Information presentation system and method

ABSTRACT

An information presentation system ( 10 ), comprising: a plurality of information sources ( 24  A,  24 B,  24 C), allowing retrieving information therefrom; a preparation-application ( 28 ), for preparing by a user ( 20 ), a schedule of contents ( 30 ), selected from the information; and a presentation application ( 32 ), for producing to the user or to another user ( 20 ) sound ( 34 ) representing the scheduled contents ( 30 ), the presentation application ( 32 ) comprising a text-to-speech convertor ( 42 ) for converting text portions of the scheduled contents ( 30 ) to speech, thereby simulating a radio channel, advantaged over a prior radio channel in providing personal preferences applied by the users&#39; preparation.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of information presentation. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for personal preparation of information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Radio receivers, media players or other multimedia presentation devices are informational tools used for utilizing time when the ear resource is available, and other human resources are busy. For example, while driving, the eyes of the user must be fully attentive to the environment, the hands and the legs busy controlling the car, but the ears are essentially free.

The user is desirous of obtaining the maximum benefit of the time watching a multimedia presentation device or listening to the sound device.

However, the user cannot control the contents of the radio receiver, except for switching to the best channel fitting the preferences thereof.

In contrast, the user can control the contents of a media player; however, media player contents typically are homogenous; for instance, the media player may contain a lecture of a certain lecturer. In order to have a variety, the user must spend time for preparing contents. In order to eliminate that, and for the benefit of variety, people do prefer listening to the radio, in spite of the unsatisfactory significant portion of the contents thereof.

All the methods described above have not yet provided satisfactory solutions to the problem of insufficient utilization of time by sound and multimedia presentation devices.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for utilization of time, for receiving information preferred by a user.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for fitting a program to user preferences, e.g., tuning out the advertisements.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the above-mentioned and other problems of the prior art.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to an information presentation system (10), comprising:

-   -   a plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C), allowing         retrieving information therefrom;     -   a preparation-application (28), for preparing by a user (20), a         schedule of contents (30), selected from the information; and     -   a presentation application (32), for producing to the user or to         another user (20) a presentation (34) representing the scheduled         contents (30), the presentation application (32) comprising a         text-to-speech convertor (42) for converting text portions of         the scheduled contents (30) to speech,         thereby simulating a radio channel, advantaged over a prior         radio channel in providing personal preferences applied by the         users' preparation.

The at least one of the plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) may comprise a server providing information thereof via the internet (26).

The preparation-application (28) may comprise a database (48), for storing the selected information.

The preparation-application (28) may comprise a search engine (40), for searching information in the plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) according to the personal preferences.

The preparation-application (28) may comprise a data miner (40), for mining information in the plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) according to the personal preferences.

The data mining preferably is adapted to needs of a personal radio station. For instance an article selected preferably must be short, such as several minutes, and must be understandable. The data mining algorithm preferably considers the available sources, quality (such as technical and verbal expressions, references to links. The data mining may preferably include a ranking functionality. For instance the rank of an article may be lowered if skipped by more than 3 persons, or higher if inquired by more than 3 persons. The data mining may include additional community functions, such as for inquiring news that have been inquired by at least 3 persons, or for receiving “facebook” updates. The data miner may include email ranking, to be translated to articles of news. The data miner may include filtering functions by key words, and other priorities.

The preparation-application (28) may comprise rules of preferences of the user (20).

The schedule of contents (30) may comprise a plurality of ordered sub-contents (30A, 30B, 30C).

The order of the ordered sub-contents (30A, 30B, 30C) may comprise at least: manual ordering, ordering according to manual determined rules, time dependent ordering, interruptions of sub-contents one to the other.

The presentation application (32) may comprise a directing element (50),

-   -   for directing the text portions of the scheduled contents (30)         to the text-to-speech convertor (42), and     -   for directing sound portions of the scheduled contents (30)         directly to a loudspeaker (52).

The information may comprise members selected from a group including: music, emails, news, advertisements, science.

The information may be split to separated files, each for being presented separately upon demand,

-   -   thereby providing a simulation of a plurality of radio channels.

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for playing information, comprising the steps of:

-   -   providing a plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C),         allowing retrieving information therefrom;     -   preparing, by a user (20), a schedule of contents (30), selected         from the information;     -   converting text portions of the scheduled contents (30) to         speech; and     -   playing to the user or to another user (20) the scheduled         contents (30) and/or the converted speech thereof,         thereby simulating a radio channel, advantaged over a prior         radio channel in providing personal preferences applied by the         preparation of the user (20).

The step of preparing the schedule of contents may comprise the steps of:

-   -   providing by the user (20) rules of preferences;     -   searching in the plurality of information sources (24A, 24B,         24C) for information meeting the rules of preferences.

The step of preparing the schedule of contents may further comprise the step of:

-   -   data mining in the plurality of information sources (24A, 24B,         24C) for information meeting the rules of preferences.

The reference numbers have been used to point out elements in the embodiments described and illustrated herein, in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention. They are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting. Also, the foregoing embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated in conjunction with systems and methods thereof, which are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments and features of the present invention are described herein in conjunction with the following drawings:

FIG. 1 depicts the conventional broadcasting system.

FIG. 2 depicts an information presentation system and steps applied therefor, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of preparation of the contents, at the second step of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 describes further functions of the preparation-application of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the presentation application of FIG. 2

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which are meant to be descriptive and not limiting. For the sake of brevity, some well-known features, methods, systems, procedures, components, circuits, and so on, are not described in detail.

FIG. 1 depicts the conventional broadcasting system.

The existing broadcasting system includes a plurality of broadcasting stations 12A, 12B, 12C, etc. altogether broadcasting to the open environment 22. Vocal or video contents 14A provided by broadcasting station 12A is prepared by an individual or team 16A; vocal or video contents 14B provided by broadcasting station 12B is prepared by an individual or team 16B; and vocal or video contents 14C provided by broadcasting station 12C is prepared by an individual or team 16C.

A user 20 manually selects either to listen to contents 14A or to 14B or to 14C, by using a switch 36 of a radio receiver 18 either to broadcasting station 12A, or to 12B, or to 12C respectively, one at a time.

FIG. 2 depicts an information presentation system and steps applied therefor, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

An information presentation system 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, allows user 20 by himself, or another person, to prepare contents 34 for listening.

At the first step, textual and/or vocal and/or video contents are prepared by a plurality of information sources 24A, 24B, 24C, etc. This first step is not performed by system 10, but rather describes the open environment. Typically, information sources 24A, 24B, 24C constitute servers providing information via the internet 26. However, information source 24A may constitute, for instance, a personal computer of user 20.

Considering the typical case, information sources 24A, 24B, 24C are herein named “servers”.

At the second step, user 20 or another person uses a preparation-application 28 for collecting data from servers 24A, 24B, 24C and prepares contents 30 for listening or watching, based on personal preferences of user 20. At the third step, a presentation application 32 presents contents 30 to user 20, as vocal or video contents 34.

Both the collection of the data from servers 24A, 24B, 24C, and the presentation by presentation application 32 may be ruled by the location of user 20 or by a location selected by the user. For example, advertisements may be selected as a function of the business houses being at the location of the vehicle of the user, carrying presentation application 32, or at the location that the user intends to be.

In contrast to the prior art broadcasting system, in which user 20 selects/switches either to listen or watch contents 14A or to 14B or to 14C prepared by external persons 16A or 16B or 16C, one at a time, vocal or video contents 34 of the present invention prepared by user 20 may be unique. For example, vocal or video contents 34 may mix music from server 24A together with a speech from server 24B, for being heard/watched simultaneously.

System 10 is advantaged of allowing user 20 to prepare the contents according to personal preferences. Another advantage of system 10 is of converting textual contents from servers 24A, 24B and 24C to vocal or video contents 34, in circumstances in which listening is possible and viewing is not, for instance, while driving a vehicle.

At the second step, preparation-application 28 collects data from servers 24A, 24B, 24C for preparing contents 30, based on personal preferences of user 20.

System 10 provides a simulation to a radio channel. System 10 may play news, weather, or any other selected retrieved information. However, this “radio channel” is advantaged over any real radio channel of broadcasting station 12A, 12B or 12C in being personal, as system 10 allows user 20 to apply personal preferences thereof.

A simple example of a personal preference of user 20 is reading incoming email thereof. For applying this preference, preparation-application 28 retrieves, say, from server 243B, the unread emails, being contents 30, of the personal account of user 20, details of which are provided to preparation-application 28; and presentation application 32 converts the texts of the retrieved email to vocal contents, these being vocal contents 34.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of preparation of the contents, at the second step of FIG. 2.

Contents 30 typically constitutes a combination of a plurality sub-contents 30A, 30B, 30C, etc. According to the example in FIG. 2, sub-contents 30B may constitute the emails retrieved from server 24B.

According to the example of FIG. 3, the user has selected at the second step of FIG. 2, by preparation-application 28, sub-contents 30A from server 24A to be listened/watched first, sub-contents 30B from server 24B to be listened/watched second, and sub-contents 30C from server 24A to be to listened/watched third.

It may be understood that sub-contents 30C may be a continuation of sub-contents 30A, for explaining that certain sub-contents may be interrupted by other sub-contents.

FIG. 3 further shows that sub-contents 30D from server 24C may interrupt sub-contents 30C, as a function of a clock 38, for example at 10 o'clock or once an hour, for announcing the news or presenting advertisements.

Thus, contents 30 constitute a schedule being prepared by user 20 or another person. The schedule may also consider, except for the order between the selected sub-contents 30A, 30B and 30C, additional considerations, such as timing.

Contents 30, like conventional radio broadcasting, may include sub-contents of advertisements. The advertisements may pop up as interruptions to other sub-contents. However, user 20 by the preparation thereof controls the rules of the advertisements, e.g., one advertisement per 20 minutes. Financial rules between user 20 and any of servers 24A, 24B or 24C providing the advertisements, may be established accordingly.

FIG. 4 describes further functions of the preparation-application of FIG. 2.

According to a preferred embodiment, user 20 need not explicitly select sub-contents 30A, or 30B or 30C, but rather indicate preferences and rules for the selections, according to which application 28 searches for the best fitting sub-contents addressing these rules.

According to the example of FIG. 4, the user preferences are to listen to news, emails and science information. Application 28 using a data miner 40 and/or a search engine and/or rules determined by user 20 finds news in servers 24A and 24, finds emails in server 24B, and finds information of science in servers 24B and 24C, and stores them in a database 48. Various additional configurations may be applied regarding where the information is stored and processed.

The further preferences of user 20 according to the example of FIG. 4 are to listen first to science, then to email, then to news, and then to science again. Thus application 28 inserts contents 30D of science from servers 24B and 24C first, contents 30B of emails from server 24B second, and contents 30E of news from servers 24A and 24C third.

According to one embodiment, the user may gather each type of contents to a separate library or file, for allowing the user select the type contents to be presented upon demand, by pushing a different playing button. The user can switch from one channel to another either by a voice command button or by a software menu.

By this organization of gathering and splitting, the product may simulate, or in other words seem to the user as providing several “radio channels”. However here the radio channels are of areas of interest. For example one channel may be news, the other sports, music, stocks etc.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the presentation application of FIG. 2.

According to the example of FIG. 4, presentation application 32 receives contents 30, including the sub-contents of 30D, 30B and 30E. User 20 may make changes during listening/watching, for providing a changed schedule 46 of contents, by using a user interface 44. FIG. 5 shows, as an example, that contents 30 includes ordered sub-contents from 30D, 30B, 30E and is changed to changed schedule contents 46 including: start of 30D, then 30B, then end of 30D, and 30E at the end. According to another example, the user may request additional information regarding a presented subject.

A directing element 50 directs changed schedule contents 46 or contents 30 if not changed for listening thereof to user 20. Directing element 50 directs the sound portions of contents 30, for example a music file, directly to a loudspeaker 52, for producing sound 34, heard by user 20. Directing element 50 directs the textual portions of contents 30 to a text to speech (TTS) convertor 42, for conversion thereof to speech information; loudspeaker 52 produces sound contents 34 from the speech information.

According to one embodiment, a mobile phone of user 20 provides the sound of contents 34.

According to one embodiment, in addition and similar to vocal contents described above, user 20 may also select video contents for presentation by a displaying application which may also be enumerated 32, since it is similar to presentation application 32 except of having visual features, such a screen in addition to loudspeaker 52.

Thus, system 10 having displaying-application 32, for producing to user 20 video of video portions of scheduled contents 30, may simulate a television channel. This simulated television channel is advantaged over a prior television channel in providing personal preferences applied by preparation of the schedule by user 20.

Various additional configurations may be applied regarding where the information is stored and processed. For instance, preparation-application 28, presentation application 32, displaying application 32, database 48, text to speech (TTS) convertor 42 or other components of system 10 may be located in a server in the internet, or in the mobile phone of the user, or in another location therebetween.

In the figures and/or description herein, the following reference numerals have been mentioned:

-   -   numeral 10 denotes an information presentation system, according         to one embodiment of the present invention;     -   numerals 12A, 12B and 12C denote broadcasting stations;     -   numeral 14A denotes vocal or video contents provided by         broadcasting station 12A;     -   numeral 14B denotes vocal or video contents provided by         broadcasting station 12B;     -   numeral 14C denotes vocal or video contents provided by         broadcasting station 12C;     -   numerals 16A, 16B and 16C denote persons or teams preparing         contents to be broadcasted;     -   numeral 18 denotes a radio receiver;     -   numeral 20 denotes a user preparing a schedule of contents;         numeral 20 also denotes a user hearing the schedule of contents;         the person preparing applies personal preferences of the person         listening or watching, and they may be the same person;     -   numeral 22 denotes the open space including radio waves;     -   numerals 24A, 24B, 24C denote information sources or servers;     -   numeral 26 denotes the internet;     -   numeral 28 denotes the preparation application;     -   numeral 30 denotes contents selected from the servers;     -   numerals 30A, 30B and 30C denote sub-contents or portions of         contents 30;     -   numeral 32 denotes a presentation application being an         application receiving the selected contents and playing it to         the user;     -   numeral 34 denotes vocal or video contents provided by the         presentation application;     -   numeral 36 denotes a switch of a radio receiver, for receiving a         certain channel;     -   numeral 38 denotes a function of time, described by a clock;     -   numeral 40 denotes a search engine and/or a data miner;     -   numeral 42 denotes a text to speech convertor, for converting         retrieved text to speech being listened to by the user;     -   numeral 44 denotes a user interface;     -   numeral 46 denotes contents being changed while being listened         to;     -   numeral 48 denotes a database;     -   numeral 50 denotes a directing element, for directing only the         text to the text to speech convertor; and     -   numeral 52 denotes a loudspeaker or an earphone.

The foregoing description and illustrations of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the above description in any form.

Any term that has been defined above and used in the claims, should to be interpreted according to this definition.

The reference numbers in the claims are not a part of the claims, but rather used for facilitating the reading thereof. These reference numbers should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any form. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An information presentation system (10) comprising: a plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C), allowing retrieving information therefrom; a preparation-application (28), for preparing by a user (20), a schedule of contents (30), selected from said information; and a presentation application (32), for producing to said user or to another user (20) sound (34) representing said scheduled contents (30), said presentation application (32) comprising a text-to-speech convertor (42) for converting text portions of said scheduled contents (30) to speech, thereby simulating a radio channel, advantaged over a prior radio channel in providing personal preferences applied by said preparing by said user (20).
 2. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said at least one of said plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) comprises a server providing information thereof via the internet (26).
 3. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said preparation-application (28) comprises a database (48), for storing said selected information.
 4. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said preparation-application (28) comprises a search engine (40), for searching information in said plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) according to said personal preferences.
 5. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said preparation-application (28) comprises a data miner (40), for mining information in said plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) according to said personal preferences.
 6. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said preparation-application (28) comprises rules of preferences of said user (20).
 7. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 6, wherein said rules of preferences of said user (20) comprise rules being a function of location.
 8. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said schedule of contents (30) comprises a plurality of ordered sub-contents (30A, 30B, 30C).
 9. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 8, wherein the order of said ordered sub-contents (30A, 30B, 30C) comprises at least one member selected from a group including: manual ordering, ordering according to manual determined rules, time dependent ordering, interruptions of sub-contents one to the other.
 10. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said presentation application (32) comprises a directing element (50), for directing said text portions of said scheduled contents (30) to said text-to-speech convertor (42), and for directing sound portions of said scheduled contents (30) directly to a loudspeaker (52).
 11. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said information comprises members selected from a group including: music, emails, sports, stocks, news, advertisements, science.
 12. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, wherein said information is split to separated files, each for presented separately upon demand, thereby providing a simulation of a plurality of radio channels.
 13. An information presentation system (10) according to claim 1, further comprising: a displaying-application (32), for producing to said user or to another user (20) video portions of said scheduled contents (30), thereby simulating a television channel, advantaged over a prior television channel in providing personal preferences applied by said preparing by said user (20).
 14. A method for presenting information, said method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C), allowing retrieving information therefrom; preparing, by a user (20), a schedule of contents (30), selected from said information; converting text portions of said scheduled contents (30) to speech; and playing to said user or to another user (20) said scheduled contents (30) and/or said converted speech thereof, thereby simulating a radio channel, advantaged over a prior radio channel in providing personal preferences applied by said preparing by said user (20).
 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein said step of preparing said schedule of contents comprises the steps of: providing by said user (20) rules of preferences; searching in said plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) for information meeting said rules of preferences.
 16. A method according to claim 14, wherein said step of preparing said schedule of contents further comprises the step of: data mining in said plurality of information sources (24A, 24B, 24C) for information meeting said rules of preferences. 